Russell Investments Group Ltd. Boosts Stock Position in Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM) by 26.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 809,294 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 166,757 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.18% of Wheaton Precious Metals worth $40,048,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CVA Family Office LLC bought a new stake in Wheaton Precious Metals during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Wheaton Precious Metals during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Mechanics Financial Corp raised its position in Wheaton Precious Metals by 200.0% during the 3rd quarter. Mechanics Financial Corp now owns 900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals by 230.7% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 863 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 602 shares during the period. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC grew its position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 2,311.1% in the 3rd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,519 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 1,456 shares during the last quarter. 70.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WPM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Securities upgraded Wheaton Precious Metals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $51.00 to $53.00 in a report on Monday, March 18th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $52.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Raymond James cut their target price on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, National Bank Financial lowered Wheaton Precious Metals from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $59.32.

Wheaton Precious Metals Price Performance

Wheaton Precious Metals stock opened at $53.56 on Tuesday. Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. has a one year low of $38.37 and a one year high of $54.45. The business’s fifty day moving average is $46.73 and its 200 day moving average is $46.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.28 billion, a PE ratio of 45.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.32 and a beta of 0.77.

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.04. Wheaton Precious Metals had a return on equity of 7.76% and a net margin of 52.92%. The firm had revenue of $313.47 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $284.29 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. will post 1.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wheaton Precious Metals Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 3rd were given a $0.155 dividend. This is a positive change from Wheaton Precious Metals’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 2nd. Wheaton Precious Metals’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.10%.

Wheaton Precious Metals Company Profile

Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. primarily sells precious metals in North America, Europe, and South America. It produces and sells gold, silver, palladium, and cobalt deposits. The company was formerly known as Silver Wheaton Corp. and changed its name to Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. in May 2017. Wheaton Precious Metals Corp.